Comcast Cable undergoesleadership transition

Comcast Corporation announced thatDave Watson became president and CEOof Comcast Cable, as Neil Smit moved intoa new role as a vice chairman of ComcastCorporation,effective April 1.

According to acompany pressrelease, “for thenext few months,Smit will workclosely with Watsonto ensure a smooth leadership transition.

Smit will then work part-time with Comcastleaders to develop future technology-ori-ented business opportunities.”The release continues, “Smit [picturedabove] has had a stellar career, includ-ing seven years as the head of ComcastCable. Prior to joining Comcast, Smitspent decades in senior executive posi-tions at Charter, AOL, and Nabisco. Beforehis career in corporate America, Smit wasa Navy SEAL, serving as a member ofSEAL Team Six.”The company adds that “Watson [pic-tured below], who joined Comcast in 1991,has served as the chief operating offi-cer of Comcast Cablesince 2010 and has part-nered with Smit in run-ning the cable divisionsince Smit’s arrival at thecompany. He has heldmany senior roles within Comcast, includ-ing leadership of the product, sales, market-ing, and advertising functions. Throughouthis career, Watson has led transitions includ-ing from analog to IPTV and from early entryinto high-speed internet to delivering giga-bit speeds. He has also played a key role inComcast’s expansion into commercial busi-ness services.” u

Network integrator Vision
Technologies Inc. recently
announced it has been awarded
a contract to provide Columbia
Basin Health Association
(CBHA) with a passive optical network infrastructure to
support their new clinic building in Othello, WA. “CBHA has
a strong tradition of expanding access to healthcare services and providing comprehensive and high-quality services
to the communities they serve,”
Vision Technologies said when
announcing the contract award.

Describing what the passive optical LAN/passive optical network will support, Vision
Technologies explained, “CBHA
relies on technology to enable
care delivery via electronic
medical records (EMR), electronic dental records (EDR),
digital radiology for medical
and dental, pharmacy management systems (PMS), pharmacy robotics and more. CBHA
selects and leverages its technology purchases not only to
enable care delivery but also to
support business processes, to
recruit and retain staff, to promote patient satisfaction, and
to provide the business-intel-ligence measures needed for
effective decision-making.

“The installation environmentbegins with the 78,000-square-foot clinic that is currentlyunder construction,” VisionTechnologies added. “Ultimately,it will extend to residential units,a wellness center, and tworetail business sites, all to belocated on a 20-acre campus inOthello, WA.”In addition to the applica-tions described earlier, the pas-sive optical LAN system willsupport building automation,access control, security cam-eras, on-demand video educa-tion, satellite TV, VoIP phones,fax, and voice-quality WiFi.Vision is providing a Tellabspassive optical LAN solutionsupporting more than 1,300ports throughout the new clinic.Vision also is providing the net-work management softwareapplication and training forCBHA staff. The system design,Vision explained, will enablefuture growth and flexibility forany Ethernet application.

CBHA’s director of clinical services Doug Thompson
explained, “We were seeking a
partnering relationship with a
company capable of designing
and implementing a high-speed,
highly reliable GPON [Gigabit
Passive Optical Network] in our
newest clinic, currently under
construction. Preference was
given to companies that can
also train CBHA’s technical staff
on system operation to provide
upper-tier support on an ongoing basis.” u